【Weekly Topic】Week 3 of 2016: Deep Processing of Petrochemicals in Everyone’s Eyes
Thread Content
To boost the popularity of advanced petrochemical processing, the [Weekly Topic] campaign is being restarted. First, we will discuss what people consider to be \"advanced petrochemical processing\" from the perspectives that are of interest to everyone. Compared to the deep processing of petrochemicals, everyone has their own understanding and their own industries of interest. The concept of deep processing in the petrochemical industry is quite broad, covering various aspects of daily life in a general sense. Some time ago, this section’s weekly topic was suspended. Starting this week, we are resuming our weekly discussion topics. First, everyone is invited to talk about what interests them regarding \"advanced petrochemical processing\", covering everything from project prospects to plant operations – feel free to share your thoughts. In the future, the weekly topics will be determined based on everyone’s contributions and summaries; we encourage active participation from all of you. We will select good topics from them, and the selected topics will receive a reward of 20-50 in wealth points.
What impact has the decline in international crude oil prices had on the domestic petroleum processing industry?
Petroleum chemical deep processing covers a wide range of areas; there are few processes that can be encountered in actual work, and even fewer for which one can become familiar with the procedures and master the operational aspects； With the downturn in the international petrochemical industry, many projects that were once very successful are no longer thriving. Driven by the market economy, many facilities have been shut down or operate at a loss to continue production ； Faced with such a serious situation, those who possess only \"a single skill\" inevitably develop a sense of crisis: if the facility they work at stops operating, productivity will drop significantly, and they will face the risk of being laid off; what will become of us then? ； Or where to start making efforts to resolve the crisis at hand.
Examples of advanced processing of C4 include the production of MTBE from isobutylene, and the production of sec-butyl acetate from other butylenes, or the formation of isooctane together with isobutane. Sec-butyl acetate is used to regenerate sec-butanol, which in turn produces methylethyl ketone. n-Butane produces maleic anhydride. Butylene produces polybutylene.
There are also polypropylene, propylene oxide, methylethylene copolymers, and the like.
Advanced petrochemical processing represents an extension of the industrial chain. Another way to understand it is to treat heavy oil in an unconventional manner
The chemical industry chain needs to be expanded; currently, efforts are being made to develop advanced processing facilities. It is said that some of these facilities result in losses, while others also incur losses. However, companies with sufficient financial strength can still expect good economic returns from such a complete industry chain, as there is no need to worry about sales issues. What truly matters is that the final products find their way to the market; relying solely on processing facilities makes one vulnerable to market fluctuations.
The deep processing of petrochemicals mainly involves C1–C5 compounds, as well as the deep processing of paraffin-based substances. Such projects generally require significant investment. Moreover, given the current poor market conditions, there is a severe surplus of products, and environmental pressures are also high; it is therefore difficult to achieve good returns from these activities
The petrochemical industry should be having an easier time these days, right? After all, oil prices are so low. What’s the current situation in the PX market for benzene? Demand should still exceed supply, right?